Abstract

Azobenzene and its delivatives are known as typical molecules showing the trans-cis photoisomerization and are studied for basic understanding of the fundamental chemistry. There are two mechanisms which are proposed for photoisomerization process of azobenzene and its derivatives. One is the “rotation” of phenyl ring around the azo bond, and the other is the in-plane “inversion” of phenyl ring at one of the two N-atoms (Fig. 1).

© 2002 Optical Society of America